The present invention relates to a material used in partitioning children's play areas and industrial guards and relates more particularly to an improvement in such materials and guards whereby the material used is unlikely to unravel, otherwise creating an unsafe condition, undesirable appearance thereby making the play environment or guard more safe and very controlled in its deflection making it highly advantageous for use in industrial guard applications.
The use of playscapes or playground type environments where compartments are filled with plastic balls and slides that deliver children through the environments are becoming increasingly popular especially as found in fast food restaurants. However, it is important to keep certain parts of the playscape confined so that the child does not wander out of it and cause an injury to him or herself. Thus, as between the modular structural pieces of the playscape a barrier is used to make impassable areas of the structure which children should not be moving into. Such further materials have usually been of fishing net type construction and lack durability, softness to the touch as well as any color which would combine with the otherwise colorful array of members in the playscape to make the environment more aesthetically appealing to the child. Also, it has been found that barrier nets have used a simple wire-like plastic mesh which has limited capacity for installation methods and flexibility. However, such single woven material have been known to shred and snag when pulled by a sharp object and thereby lose its shape.
As well, in industrial application wherein large packages and/or equipment is being moved, it is desirable to reduce deflection of the barrier so that travel paths of the packages may not be disrupted. Also, it is desirable to use a material which can withstand and/or prevent unravelling as packages are moved along a delivery system. Even still, in the industrial guard application, it is desirable to use a mesh material which is collapsible on itself when it is necessary for the mesh to be retracted and material that allow various sizes and shapes to be fabricated to reduce sag and provide more accurate tolerances.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a barrier mesh structure of the aforementioned type wherein the material making up the netting is structurally resistant to shredding when pulled or snagged by a sharp object such as would be found in the context of industrial guards and child play areas.
Yet a further object of the invention is to provide a material of the aforementioned type which is capable of having a given color which is coordinated with the color scheme of a given playscape or industrial/commercial seams.
Still a further object of the invention is to provide a barrier material which is used for children in a playscape and which material has a mesh construction that is small enough to prohibit climbing by an individual.
Further objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following disclosure and appended claims.